Residents Alistair and Deborah Price have called for action
over the danger spot. Photo by Gerard O'Brien
The 17-year-old Kings High School pupil whose car crashed
into Otago Harbour said he and his young passengers
thought they would die as water rushed into the vehicle.
Andreas Pfyl has now added his voice to a call for more speed
warning signs at two bends on Portobello Rd that residents
say are an accident hot-spot
The teenage driver was returning to Dunedin from Portobello
on Friday night with three passengers at 10.55pm when he left
the road at Sunnybrae, about 5km from Dunedin.
"I just got sideways going round a corner, tried to correct,
overcorrected and went the other way."
The Nissan Primera hit a power pole and a tree, before
sliding down the bank into the harbour and turning upside
down.
Andreas, his girlfriend and two male friends were all wearing
seat belts.
"There was a bit of panic. We were all disoriented. We didn't
know where we were. Water was rushing in."
One of the rear doors would not open because of the impact
with the power pole and the position of the car prevented two
other doors from opening.
"There was a bit of fear when we first hit the water and it
began coming in quite fast. We thought we were probably going
to die."
The car was three-quarters submerged and the occupants were
able to breathe from an air pocket inside the car.
Andreas "finally managed" to get his driver's door opened
and, with the help of the front-seat passenger, dragged the
other two from the rear seats.
One of the occupants received bruising and Andreas had cut
hands and a sore shoulder but was still able to represent his
school in a football tournament in Invercargill this week.
Alcohol and excessive speed are not believed to have been
factors in the crash.
Andreas said he was driving at less than the 70kmh Portobello
Rd limit as he entered the first of the two bends at
Sunnybrae.
He touched the brakes as he entered the bend and the car went
out of control.
He was unfamiliar with driving on the road at night and
believed well-lit signs warning about the bends should be
installed.
Nearby residents say there have been between 10 and 15
accidents on the 100m stretch of road outside their house
this year.
Senior Constable Lox Kellas, of Portobello, has described the
bends as "notorious" and will be discussing the possibility
of erecting warning signs with Dunedin City Council traffic
engineers tomorrow.
mark.price@odt.co.nz
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